Why overcomplicate it?
I have been emailing the shire since January 2023 with suggestions as to fixing the damages sections of the Briars boardwalk (Calls for boardwalk fix as shire proposes options, The News 14/11/24) after the wild weather back in 2020 where a section was damaged and fenced off. However after the 14 November 2022 event there are now other sections that have been damaged.
This is a very popular walk so my question is – when does the shire expect to complete the repairs of the whole section of the Boardwalk? I note that BERG repairs damaged planks and maintains the boardwalk from Nepean Highway to the Estuary with a minimum of fuss.
I then received the following response from the Shire in April 2023 which stated:
Thank you for your email regarding the Briars Boardwalk. Yes, there was a section of the boardwalk closest to the visitor centre that was closed in May 2021 due to structural damage. The repair solution was quite complex and took some time due to the significant erosion of the creek bank that was still active in the area. Unfortunately, the other section of boardwalk (all the way to the Nepean Highway) was then destroyed during the storm event last year.
Our initial assessments have shown that the section of boardwalk from Nepean Highway to the Briars Visitor Centre carpark has either been completely dismantled or the structural footing has been significantly under-mined or misaligned. For community safety, this section of the boardwalk was closed off and was separated by removing a 6 m section in the middle. Unfortunately rebuilding the boardwalk will likely take considerable time due to the specialised knowledge required to minimise the impact on the sensitive estuary environment, structural engineering designs needed, and approvals from Melbourne Water.
Over two years plus is a very long time to contemplate a repair, we do not require a super structure since it has survived from the 1990’s until 2022 after Rotary built it – just repair the boardwalk along the existing location and hence no need for any Land Council report and this should have minimum environment impact.
John Bridge, Mount Martha
Already free – for most
I’d like to comment regarding your article where Victorian MP Rachel Payne suggests making bus services free of charge (Free bus proposal, The News 12/11/24). As a user of our wonderful Bus Service from Mount Martha can I point out that from my observation our current bus service is free to 80 percent of users. In my travels it is rare to see users pay for the service.
Andrew Jones, Mount Martha
Mobile message
What a relief to finally see the end of the scribbled messages on the windows of ambulances on the MP. I’ll bet the actual ambulance employees are feeling just as satiated after striking a pay deal with the union after more than a year of drawn-out negotiations. Big congrats.
And while I feel they have received their just cause the reason I’m feeling relieved is for a different reason. It always unsettled me that the agency that I rely on to help me in a medical crisis was airing their dirty laundry on the side of a piece of equipment that is (I hope), hurrying to my aide. I don’t grab a piece of soap and scrawl out, “My kid wouldn’t eat his peas last night.” or “She got half.” on the side of my Kia Carnival.
The police: hold my beer.
Nate Avidan, Rosebud
Making sense
Georgia, aged nine, (The scene of the crime, Letters 12/11/2024) makes more sense than a lot of much older people.
It is absolutely only fair that the generations who enjoyed the benefits of fossil fuels and plastics, before their negative consequences became so apparent, clean up their mess. Importantly, we shouldn’t make it worse with a nuclear-fantasy “solution”, which will only add a whole new meaning to toxic legacy.
Lesley Walker, Northcote
Too much plastic
In response to Georgia Paxino’s letter (The scene of the crime, Letters 12/11/2024), I wholeheartedly agree.
However, the problem has been compounded in recent years by the overuse of plastic packaging by retailers and manufacturers. The majority of meat products sold in supermarkets today are sealed in hard plastic packaging. Similarly most children’s toys are bundled into difficult to open plastic packing.
There is no recycling facility for this type of waste, as far as I know.
Phil McDonald, Carrum Downs
Air pollution eye-opener
What a terrific letter by Dale Stohr (Air Pollution, Letters 13/11/2024). Seeing the list of pollutants emitted by the Esso LPG plant at Long Island Point in Hastings, according to the National Pollutant Inventory website, was an eye-opener. It’s hard to believe that after 50 years of industry in Hastings, it’s only now that an air monitoring station has been installed.
It’s easy to become blasé about air quality, particularly in Australia where on the whole it is pretty good. However, the recent findings about the links between asthma and gas in the home reveal we can never be too careful. And air quality alongside major roads in Australia is of particular concern. A recent study found one in six schools and childcare centres in our capital cities are close enough to major roads to raise health risks for the children who go there.
It was worse in Melbourne where the proportion was one in four. Electrification of our homes and our transport systems will improve air quality and the health of future generations. It cannot happen quickly enough.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Wildlife, not theme park
In response to a previous letter, (The Eagle Soars, Letters 13/11/24) it is important to clarify that the group against the Arthurs Seat Eagle expansion proposal is not against development in the right place. We are against the proposal because it is a huge overdevelopment, and using public land set aside for a state wildlife park for private commercial use.
Doubling the size of the premises at the foot and also at the summit of Arthurs Seat, adding an eight storey tower, a second restaurant, lit up over-road pedestrian bridge and roller coaster toboggan ride with screaming passengers up and down the slope is in the wrong place. It is also totally inappropriate for a state park for wildlife.
What is there now is already having negative impacts. Animals are being frightened out of what should be their sanctuary onto nearby roads and properties. Collisions with kangaroos are on the rise. The existing facility has already created enough intrusion and negative impacts on the state park and wildlife and taken up all flat ground that was used for family picnics with buildings or car parking.
Yes it will be a disaster if this goes ahead, and fond boyhood memories by the previous letter writer, of a beautiful wildlife park will be lost. The proposed additional expansion in Arthurs Seat state wildlife park is excessive, totally inappropriate and must be rejected. Let the developers buy somewhere else suitable for their theme park, not use public land meant to be a wildlife nature park to be preserved and enjoyed by future generations.
Esther Gleixner, Flinders
Support for Eagle
I’ve been following recent discussions around the Arthur’s Seat Eagle development plans with interest and attended the recent community gathering in Dromana. To those who are vocally opposing the project, I would say that while your enthusiasm and conviction are admirable, your argument would be stronger if grounded in factual evidence.
In my view, Arthur’s Seat Eagle is a well-managed, world-class tourism attraction that locals can take pride in. Their commitment to the environment and community is evident, not to mention the employment opportunities they provide for local residents.
As a local resident and small business owner, my business directly benefits from the tourism dollars Arthur’s Seat Eagle brings to the peninsula. Our future, and that of other businesses in the area, (and therefore the community as a whole) depends on individuals and organisations willing to invest here in ways that are creative, thoughtful, and considerate of the community.
Lynton Barriball, Safety Beach
Bring back punishment
With years of far-left Laborites, and their like-minded Greens fellow–travellers’ destruction of Victoria’s law and order, parents and educators rights to guide, and discipline young Australians have been removed. I say, re so many recent instances, of today’s youth crime sprees; bring back corporal punishment, starting, with some of their parents!
Howard Hutchins, Wantirna
Don’t abolish panels
From Council Watch’s recent “7 things any NEW Councillor must do to show the community who is in charge!”, number one was to “Abolish Citizens panels and consultative committees immediately – they are but a confected proxy for officers anyway.” Just another all encompassing opinion from Council Watch not substantiated with anything of substance.
Cancelling citizen panels and consultative committees altogether because of a few negative experiences seems Trumpish, especially when they’re intended as a key way for communities to engage with local government. It’s true that there can be instances where officers have a strong influence, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the entire process is flawed.
In fact, citizen panels, when done well, can offer valuable input from people who know and experience the local issues firsthand. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s experience with such panels, as I found, demonstrates that they can indeed be beneficial. Rather than abandoning the panels due to occasional issues, a more balanced approach might be to assess and refine them to make sure they’re effective and representative.
Consultative methods may need some oversight and improvement, not complete rejection. If Council Watch is committed to better community representation, strengthening citizen panels with clear guidelines would be a more constructive solution. The other six things hold some merit but do not address the biggest problems councils have.
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
Letter guidance
I was so pleased to read the contribution of Bianca Felix (The News not the place to debate international issues, Letters 5/11/24). For far too long people have been allowed to just make random comments in “Letters”, on any issue they felt was worthy of their time and thoughts. As Bianca points out, people should be restricted from commenting on matters that she deems are upsetting to her.
We now have some new directives, but I think it still needs a little more work, so I’m asking if it would be possible for Bianca to go a little further by developing two succinct lists. One list could be on matters that have been determined by Bianca on which we have every right to make a comment, and another list Bianca deems are unworthy of our input and which must not be uttered here. Something like that would be most helpful.
Perhaps next week Bianca could advise us on what punishment should be handed out to those who dare to transgress. I, for one, will be waiting with anticipation and eagerness.
Bob Impey, Mornington
IDF shame
It seems that some of your correspondents feel that this paper is not place in which to discuss the actions of the IDF in Gaza and elsewhere. I disagree. The events that have happened in Gaza and now Lebanon are so horrendous , so sadistically calculated in their cruelty that, one wonders what motivates such hatred. Crimes are being committed that surpass what is usually classified as “war crimes”. Shooting children at play in the head, bombing fleeing families, withholding aid, bombing hospitals, using shrapnel bombs, using phosphorous bombs… the list goes on. And any criticism is labelled as “anti-Semitic”. This is not a war, it is slaughter, and something that the IDF and Israel should be ashamed of. It should be a matter that should be discussed everywhere and openly, and condemned by all.
John Shorter, McCrae
Don’t talk about it
There are almost 50 percent of Israelis that do not agree with the present government of Israel’s way of prosecuting the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. The hope of ever getting the hostages from last year’s criminal invasion of Israel by Hamas back alive are diminishing with every atrocity in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. Every time a crazed settler goes and burns down a Palestinian house or car, or the destruction of houses and infrastructure by the IDF the whole troubled situation of the Middle Eastern conflict becomes more intractable.
I would have thought that some Jewish voices in Australia would have sounded some form of censure of the Israeli government for its indefensible and indiscriminate attacks on innocent people in the neighbourhood of Israel. All one hears is the accusation of anti-Semitism from the chosen few Jewish spokespeople around the world.
I will speak out about this injustice with or without the approval of the defenders of this genocide going on in Palestine. Yes, Hamas has behaved atrociously in last year’s invasion of Israel, but the number of dead Palestinian civilians is a travesty of immense proportion.
Rupert Steiner, Balnarring
